Recent Posts

When was the last time you profiled your customer? I'm not
talking basic customer demographic information, but rather really
taking the time to understand who they are, what their needs are,
where their interests lie, who they interact with, etc. As we all
know, the web can be a very fragmented place.

Don't get me wrong, it is steadily becoming more interconnected,
but we still have a ways to go before all of the bits and pieces
align. In the meantime, there are several services that have
popped up in the past couple of years aiming to connect the dots,
and essentially profile people based on web content they have
either produced or are mentioned in.

What does this mean for Businesses?

Well, it's now easier than ever to grasp a sense of who your
customer is. After all, if I can see your tweets, Facebook
profile, LinkedIn page, Flickr photos, blog, comments, and usage
of other social platforms, then I can better tailor my product or
service to fit your needs. On that note, here are three great
services you can try to help you dive in and better understand
the needs, thoughts, interests, friends, and lifestyle of your
customer.

Gist

Perhaps you are like me and have a few emails lingering around
your inbox from conversations that you have had with customers in
the past. If so, I would definitely suggest you check out Gist.
While it is more of a contacts manager, this will really help you
step into the world of your customer and mash-up a detailed
profile of their web identity. If someone has emailed you,
friended your business on Facebook, and is an avid Twitter
follower, then Gist will build you a profile for that person.
There is then a high change that this is your person of interest
for a potential sale.

Flowtown

Flowtown is a very similar service to Gist, but operates with a
slightly more effective interface. Aggregating information
from across the web, it builds detailed profiles that allow for
you to connect with your customers through the social media
network of their preference. One of the nice distinctive features
is it also reveals to you a customer's Klout
score, so you have a better idea of who your true influencers
are. Unfortunately, it is only free for the first 50 imported
contacts, so you can't grow too dependent on it unless you are
willing to cough up the money to pay for a regular account.

Spokeo

While Spokeo may be limited in the ability to search and track
numerous profiles, if you have a few lead customers you are
looking to learn more about, this can be the one-stop shop to
gain a sense of who they are. These guys really do a solid job at
explaining themselves as a search engine that is specialized in
organizing people-related information from a large variety of
public sources.

After sifting through these options, what tools do you use to
understand your customers better? Have you found any that are
particularly effective or ineffective? Please share your thoughts
in the comments below!